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Released July 7, 2015 | Full Decision This decision by Arbitrator Jeffrey Shapiro makes clear that a diagnosis of chronic pain syndrome can remove an insured from the Minor Injury Guideline (the “MIG”). The arbitration concerned a motor vehicle accident which occurred on May 5, 2012. The insured sustained soft tissue and psychological injuries and was placed in the MIG. After depleting the maximum funding …

Released June 5, 2015 | CanLII In this most recent installment in the Scarlett saga, the Divisional Court reviewed the decision of Director’s Delegate Evans from November 28, 2013. That decision had overturned the original Arbitration decision of March 26, 2013. The Director’s Delegate had remitted the matter to be heard in full by a different arbitrator. Mr. Scarlett sought to reinstate the Order of …

If you drive a vehicle in Ontario, the law requires that you insure your vehicle. Every auto insurance policy includes mandatory no-fault benefits. We pay for these benefits with our premium dollars. While premiums have continued to climb year after year, the no-fault accident benefits for injured victims continue to erode. While benefits have been steadily declining for many years, the changes that were imposed …

Willie Handler is a familiar name to anyone working with auto insurance regulations. He has left the public sector, joined the private sector as a consultant and he now maintains a blog called Ontario Auto Insurance Topics. He recently posted an article titled HCAI Data Confirms Ontario’s Minor Injury Guideline is Holding Up in response to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) Health Claims Database …

Last week, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) took out full page ads with a big statement—“Criminals Next Exit”—and titled “Ontario to crack down on The Car Accident Business”. The gist of the ad, which is similar to campaigns previously run by the IBC, is that the main reason insurance premiums have not decreased is that fraud continues to be a systemic problem. This is …

On Wednesday, December 11, 2013, the government secretly pushed through three changes to the SABS (Ontario Regulation 347/13), all of which will come into force on February 1, 2014. One of those changes is a small amendment to section 35 of the SABS dealing with the election of weekly benefits. However, the other two changes (attendant care benefits and pre-existing medical conditions) are potentially much …